Marvelous Harmony
by Artemis Day
Summary: Jane is the only member of Shield High's chamber choir to never have a solo. That can all change, so long as she gets over her stage fright long enough. Enter the two young men who can help her through it, so long as they can stop trying to kill each other long enough. Getting her chance to steal the show is going to be an uphill battle. Can Jane do it?


**A/N:** **So this was going to be for Take Your Fandom to Work Day, but... needless to say, I missed that by a wide margin.**

 **I don't know what it is about this story, but it was insanely difficult to write. I mean, it is kind of different from my usual fare. I've never written a straight love triangle before, or mixed my favorite pairings like this, but I feel like it's more than that.**

 **Whatever the reason, this should have been finished weeks ago.**

 **Oh well, it's done now. Better late than never, right?**

 **So this story is based on my years in choir, particularly 11th and 12th grade when I was in chamber choir. A lot of little moments in this story are based on actual things that happened to me or that I saw happen while I was in chamber choir. I'll explain in a little more detail in the end notes.**

 **That being said, I hope you enjoy this!**

* * *

 _"Never saw the sun shinin' so bright, never saw things goin' so right, noticing the… the… wait-"_

Jane consulted the sheet music, reading the lines over from start to finish.

 _"'Noticing the days hurrying by, when you're in love, oh how they fly…'_ how do I keep forgetting this?"

She pushed her music folder aside. The lyrics spun in her head on a continuous loop, loud and hard on all the parts she was constantly missing. Jane tapped the air with her fingers as if tapping out notes on a piano.

 _"Never saw the sun shinin' so bright, never saw things goin' so right, noticing the days hurrying by, when you're in love, oh how they-"_

"Foster!"

Jane leaped out of her chair, knocking over her backpack and two music stands. They landed with an ugly crash that dented one side and would probably leave scratches on the floor for the custodians to deal with. Nick Fury, Shield High's dictator-like choir director, lived up to his name as his single eye glared at Jane with enough intensity to fuel the stares of twenty eyes. If this was the fifties and her school anything like what her grandparents described, she was certain he'd have a meter stick in hand and she'd be going home tonight with a raw backside.

"Rehearsal starts in two minutes," he snapped. "Get moving or go home."

"R-right. Sorry."

Jane snatched up her bag and ran. Halfway to the door, Fury coughed. He held out her forgotten music folder, his gaze even harder. Jane sheepishly took it and scurried off to the practice room next door. The rest of the chamber choir was already assembled. Tony had taken up three chairs to lay down for an afternoon nap, while Bruce and Betty diligently worked on their homework assignments and Maria chatted on her phone. From the corner by the windows, Darcy grinned at Jane and gave her a thumbs up. She knew how long Jane had been waiting for this. She had real faith in Jane, that she could nail the audition and wow everyone with her skill and get that solo handed to her on a silver platter. Her first solo ever since joining the chamber choir.

It must have been nice to be that confident.

"All right, everyone get your asses over here," said Fury.

Eleven students obediently formed a semicircle around the piano. The single lagger snored away without a care, his head rested on a folded sweater. Fury narrowed his eyes. He motioned for the piano accompanist to move out of the way so he could slam his hand down on the keys. Tony Stark yelped and rolled, landing flat on his face.

"Glad you could join us, Stark," shouted Fury.

"What the hell was that?" Tony's words were garbled, his mouth full of teeth and floor tiling.

"It was either you getting your shit together or you getting the hell out of my music room. Your call."

After two and a half years under his tutelage, everyone was so used to Fury's coarse language that he could call any one of them a twat licking motherfucker and it wouldn't faze them. Some had learned to retaliate. Typically the brave and/or stupid ones.

"You wanted me up that badly," said Tony, "you could have just stood by the window and the gleam of the sun on your bald head would have done it."

Tony winked at Pepper in the alto section. She sighed and turned so that no one but the sopranos would see her smile. Jane, Maria, and Betty were the only ones outside of Tony Stark's inner circle that truly believed he would one day win the famously aloof Pepper Potts over. In moments like this, they saw what no one else ever did.

"Any time you want to walk out of here, Stark," Fury said. "You go right ahead."

Tony pressed a hand over his heart. "Now that hurts, Nick. Can I call you Nick?"

"Do that, and I'll kick you in the balls."

"Right. So, oh great and powerful choir director, what's on the agenda for today?"

A smattering of snickers rippled through the chamber choir, never too loud as to identify them to their sharp eared teacher. Fury narrowed his eyes at the gathered students. All of them, including the innocent parties, fell into dead silence. Even Tony shut his mouth for once.

"We're going to rehearse the entire program. The concert is in two weeks. You guys need a lot more practice if you're going to put on a good show."

"Perhaps some more than others," said a haughty, British voice in the bass section.

That was a voice Jane would know anywhere, for better or worse. Loki Odinson wore what had become his trademark, 'I'm better than you at everything because I'm me' smirk that made half the school hate him and the other half want to be him, if only so they could be that self-actualized. Personally, Jane believed that most of Loki's swagger was a front for some kind of serious emotional issues or possibly an inferiority complex. Behind that cocky grin was a sad little boy crying out for attention. It was either that or she'd been reading too many psychology books.

Right now, Loki's eyes were on the tenors. One in particular shot back with an equally snide remark.

"You're one to talk. Gonna flub any more low notes today, Odinson?"

Bucky Barnes never failed to rise up to the challenge whenever Loki started to dish it out. They had a reputation for it now, the oil to each other's fire. One of these days, Jane was going to have to sit them both down and find out why one of the school's most popular guys and the just as popular, if more mysterious, transfer student couldn't get along. Unless it was just some crazy competition over which one was more worthy of the coveted 'sexy bad boy' title, Jane couldn't imagine what the hell was their problem.

All she knew was that Loki arrived on the first day of the new semester, joined the choir right away, took the one free slot in the chamber choir, and two days later, him and Bucky were at each other's throats.

"I mean, they seem to get along fine with everyone else," she had complained to Darcy over lunch a few days ago. "Bucky is pretty likeable, and while Loki is kind of a jerk, he's at least civil. It just seems to be when they're alone, and I wouldn't care, except they both constantly want to rehearse with me or do homework with me, so I'm always caught in the middle. Last week, they nearly started a fist fight over which of them would take me home after practice. I don't get it. Is it me?"

"It's definitely you," Darcy said with a mouth full of tuna salad, "but Jane, I don't think you're getting why."

Jane blinked. She thought that being friends with both of them at the same time was creating a proverbial lightning rod for the tension between them. Almost like a bad luck charm.

"Why is it then?" she had asked naively.

And Darcy had rolled her eyes. "If you have to ask, you don't need to know."

Then she'd gone off when the bell rang muttering to herself about never getting hot guys chasing after her.

"Barnes. Odinson. You two looking to get detention again this week?"

Jane shot them each a look in time with Fury's threat. Nobody saw it, and everyone would think that they both shut up because Fury was just that scary of a guy. Loki glowered right back at Jane, as was his way. There was no bite behind it. Jane had known him long enough to understand how his mood fluctuated and when he really wanted to brutally murder you and when he was just bluffing.

Bucky winked at her. That was _his_ way.

Fury tapped the piano with one finger. Phil Coulson, the student teacher who may or may not have once tasered Tony in the ass and left him to sleep in the broom closet one Friday night, plucked out their usual warm up notes.

"Okay, that was acceptable." Fury was not one for giving praise. "Later on, we're going to have auditions for the solo part in Blue Skies. Until then, let's take it from the top."

The familiar intro started, bright and cheery the way Jane wished her mood was. They made it through the first verse, Jane barely noticing if anyone other than her was in tune. The girls sang over the solo bit as was customary before the soloist was chosen. She was certain that she'd fallen flat on a couple of high notes, but Fury didn't say anything. His one eye seemed to look everywhere at once, his conducting subdued for a song with such a fast tempo.

"That was better," he said as the song came to an end, "but altos, you're rushing the second verse, and I heard at least one soprano who needs to work on their high notes."

Jane looked down at the floor, her stomach twisting.

"Okay, this time, I just want the men to sing," said Fury.

"That means women and tenors should be silent," said Loki.

A couple of people laughed. Darcy thought it was hilarious. Tony chuckled even though he was technically the butt of the joke. Steve Rogers shook his head in disapproval, but Jane could see a hint of a smile threatening to form. Bucky's eyes seemed to shoot invisible bolts of electricity straight through Loki, and where he a lesser man, Loki might have been ripped to pieces just from the force of it. Even Steve would have been struck dead, and he'd been Bucky's best friend since kindergarten.

"I guess that means you shouldn't sing either, Odinson," he said.

Loki's smile vanished. He appraised Bucky coldly, a look Jane had learned to fear. Thankfully, they were spared the fight by Fury's harsh voice.

"Neither of you will be singing today or ever again if you don't shut up." He violently flipped his sheet music back to the first page. "Now if all of the men, and I do mean all of them, will please start from the beginning."

Practice continued from one song to the next. Jane stood tall with her shoulders back and her legs relaxed. Her feet began to hurt after an hour, but she hardly moved even to shift her weight. They had four songs in the upcoming concert, and Fury wasn't wasting any time. Except to berate Tony for intentionally singing off-key and threaten Loki again with detention when he started 'accidentally' poking Bucky in the back with a pencil- causing him to stomp hard on Loki's foot- there was little interruption. Before Jane knew it, over ninety minutes had passed. Her heart hammered like the ticking of the clock, counting down the seconds before Fury called for Coulson to stop.

That would be it. Her time to shine or to fall. To prove once and for all that she deserved her spot in the advanced choir, or to become a laughingstock who only got lucky once and never again.

 _'I'm ready for this,'_ she told herself. She breathed deeply, reaching low into her lungs so that her stomach expanded, hoping that no one noticed and thought she was hyperventilating. _'I'm ready. I can do this.'_

"Okay, we're going to start the auditions," Fury said, motioning for everyone to sit down. "Might as well take the time to remind you that we'll also be holding auditions for I Bought Me A Cat tomorrow with the regular choir. If you're interested, let me know either tonight after practice or tomorrow. Maria, you're up first."

Maria smiled at Jane and Betty, neither of whom could resist smiling back. As far as Jane was concerned, that was the most irritating thing about Maria. Not that she was inarguably a better singer than her, but because she was just so genuinely nice that you had to love her anyway.

Of course, she knocked her audition out of the park. Just like she had her part in My God is a Rock for the winter concert and her extended performance of 'I'll be Home for Christmas' during the Christmas show. Betty's audition was just as good. She was the kind of singer who could have easily sung soprano or alto, so she never had much trouble with the super high notes that made Jane's voice crack, or the low notes that made her croak.

"Not bad, Betty." Fury wrote something down in his notebook. "Jane. You're up."

Her stomach sank as she walked to the center of the classroom. She placed her hand on the piano. Nobody would think anything of it, but if she let go, she would start to sway, and then the vertigo would set in. Jane had once fainted before fifty people, much of it family, during karaoke night. No need to repeat _that_ performance.

"You ready?" Fury asked.

Jane licked her lips. She nodded, and Coulson started to play. As always, he began several lines early, giving her time to prepare. Jane tried to breathe, but her throat had closed, restricting her air intake. Her head spun, almost as fast as the room, unless that was just her nerves playing tricks on her. The other kids staring oddly at her and whispering could not have been a delusion. Jane's hand slid off the piano. She dug blunt nails into her palms as Fury's voice punctured the air.

"All of you quiet down," he said. "Jane, you missed your cue."

Jane blinked. All sounds, real or otherwise, had ceased, as had the clenching of her heart, and the pounding in her head.

"Oh… right, sorry."

"Up for trying again?"

Jane opened her mouth, and a high pitched whine came out in place of words. The late bell blared in her ears and through her chest, a godsend and a curse all at once. The rest of the choir gathered their things, talking loudly amongst themselves now that the day was officially over and Fury had no control over them until tomorrow.

"We'll pick this up again next time," Fury told them. His eye landed on Jane. "I hope you'll all be ready."

Jane swallowed back a lump in her throat and forced herself to smile.

* * *

"Come on, Jane, it's okay." Darcy nudged her. "Everyone chokes now and again. You're still totally going to get the solo."

"Unless I choke next time, too." Jane sunk down into the nearest chair, dropping her backpack at her feet. The old pieces of telescope she'd been tinkering with clanged together, echoing through the auditorium. "Maybe I just shouldn't bother."

"Don't say that. You're a great singer," said Darcy. "You wouldn't be in the chamber choir if you weren't."

"That doesn't mean I'd make a good soloist. I'm the only member of the chamber choir who hasn't had one yet."

"Then that means you're due for one!"

"You know it doesn't work like that, Darcy."

"Well, excuse me for being optimistic."

Jane sighed and threw her head back. It was times like this she wondered if maybe she should have stuck with playing the cello. At least then, she didn't have to open her mouth.

"You know, even if you don't get this solo, there's still the one in I Bought Me A Cat."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. My big debut will be quacking like a duck at the top of my lungs."

"You'd get a laugh from the audience."

Somewhere out in the hall, a door slammed shut, and the few lingering voices that had stayed just within earshot finally vanished. Jane picked up her bag. The zipper was half undone and fell open. Jane's black folder stuck out among the colorful and much smaller textbooks.

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Darc," she said. "I'm just going to practice for a while."

"I was going to go over to the ice cream shop. You sure you don't want to come with? They have rocky road."

"Maybe tomorrow."

Knowing Darcy, she'd want to dig her feet into the ground and keep badgering Jane until she got what she wanted, so it was to Jane's immense relief that her friend was able to control that impulse and bid her goodnight. Jane was likely to get an even harsher interrogation come the next morning, but for now, she'd take what she could get. What she got was a two hundred seat auditorium with decent acoustics and no one around within at least a hundred feet. The only sports team still practicing was the girl's lacrosse team, and they were always too busy yelling at each other to care with the music kids were doing.

Jane was safe. She had no musical accompaniment to speak of, but she was safe and alone and if she was lucky, she could mindfuck herself into feeling just as safe and alone next week, when she would stare down a crowd of her peers and await their judgement.

 _"Never saw the sun shining so bright, never saw things going so right…"_ Jane trailed off. She had wavered on the first word and at least two notes after weren't sharp enough. She forced herself on. _"Noticing the days hurrying by, when you're in love, oh they do fly- how they fly! Dammit…"_

She flipped through the pages, re-reading musical notes she barely understood and words so simple that an infant could comprehend them. She spoke aloud the line, enunciating different words each time. So many times she slammed on the 'sun', the 'bright', the 'things', and the 'right', that they didn't sound like real words anymore. She closed her eyes and recited the lyrics one last time. For now they were burned into her mind's eye. Only time would tell if her brain functioned to ingrain them into her long term memory and save her from future embarrassment.

Jane started singing, slowly and with her eyes closed. She didn't see the shadow lurking by the door, cast long by the dying sunlight.

Bucky pressed his back into the wall, getting out of view before Jane realized that she was no longer alone. Good thing she was in the zone and turned away from the back entrance. She had left her music folder on the floor by her feet as she sang the happy tune, nervously but passionately. Her voice had a soft, kind of breathy quality, caressing Bucky's ears. It was so unlike the other sopranos. Maria and Betty were nice enough girls, but they were a bit too shrill for his tastes. Their high notes were like push pins lodged into his temple.

Jane, though? He could listen to her all day.

"Exactly what are you doing here, Barnes?"

...and _there_ was a voice he could happily never hear again, coming from someone he could happily never see again, whose very existence he would happily erase if such things were possible.

"Don't see how that's your business, Odinson." He glared daggers at Loki as he stepped out of the darkness. "Last I checked, it was a free country. I don't need your permission to hang out wherever I want."

"Of course not," Loki said flatly. "It just so happened that you chose the very place where Jane is practicing. What a strange coincidence."

"And why the hell are _you_ here? What, was a regular classroom not enough to contain your fat head? Try the football field next time."

"Oh, how I love engaging in spirited discourse with simple folk such as yourself."

"Quit with the fancy talk, limey. You are not smarter than me. Now shut the hell up before Jane hears us."

"Um, actually," Jane said, "I already can hear you. You guys are being pretty loud."

Loki and Bucky froze. All the old cliches- 'deer in a headlight', 'bug under a microscope', 'hand in the cookie jar'- could be applied to them as they fell before Jane's cautious gaze. The two young men shared a quick glance breaking out in identical grins.

"Afternoon, Jane," Loki said. He had drawn himself to full height and seemed to enjoy that Bucky couldn't reach as high. "I was just passing by and heard you practicing. I hope you don't mind my listening in."

"I was coming to see you," Bucky interjected, pushing in front of Loki. "Thought it would be encouraging for you to have a good friend cheering you on."

"Yes, you are such a good _friend_ to Jane, Barnes," Loki said. "And you _always_ will be, won't you?"

"Don't be like that, Odinson. We all know that _you're_ the one who will _always_ be her _friend_."

"Um… guys? Guys?"

Bucky and Loki then ceased their attempts to telekinetically explode each other's heads and looked at Jane.

"I don't mean to interrupt… whatever this is, and I appreciate the thought, but I'd kind of like to be alone right now. I don't like it when people watch me practice."

"And yet you sing just fine during group rehearsals," Loki replied.

"It's different when you're singing on your own, Loki," Jane said. "You should know. You had a solo during the last concert."

"Are you implying that my performance not acceptable?"

Jane blushed. "No, you were great. Really great. Right, Bucky?"

"Oh yeah, he was fantastic." Bucky then let out a series of loud, phony coughs and sputters. "Sucked-" *cough* *cough* "-you suck-" *cough* "-drop dead." *cough* *cough*

Bucky scratched his nose and shook himself back to attention. He showed no concern over the suspicious looks Jane and especially Loki were giving him, shrugging his shoulders as if nothing was wrong.

"Allergies," he said. "They've been acting up. Know what I mean, pal?"

"Quite," Loki muttered.

"Okay," Jane said, glancing this way and that, "well, if you guys don't mind, I really do need to practice."

Jane flipped back to the first page, reading the notes with her mouth sealed shut. Once or twice, she glanced up to see if they had left yet. She was, and would continue to be, disappointed.

"You've been practicing this song so much over the past few weeks," Loki said, hands behind his back. "You must know it by heart."

"I haven't practiced _that_ much," Jane said. "I still have homework to do and projects to finish, not to mention college applications. That's why I need this time to practice. I won't get anymore after this. So could you guys please just give me some space?"

Bucky wasn't going to go- at least, not before Loki. He didn't know what to say or do other than stand there, so it was that much more annoying when Loki's bony hand wrapped around his arm and he was forcibly pulled out through back door. Even more infuriating was that Bucky couldn't even get away from the bastard. He looked like skin and bones, but apparently he was strong as fuck.

"Get off me," Bucky snapped. He finally got his arm free outside the auditorium. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Stop throwing a temper tantrum and I'll tell you," Loki said. "Have you not seen how Jane's behavior in the past few weeks has changed? Ever since Fury announced auditions, Jane has had her nose in that sheet music almost as much as she does in her textbooks. Don't you find that strange?"

"What I find strange is that you've apparently been watching Jane long enough to know all that," Bucky said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Are you a stalker?"

Loki frowned. "You can accuse me of that if you wish, but understand that you would then be acknowledging that I'm right, and the only way you could know that for sure would be if you have been watching her just as much as I have."

Then the rotten son of a bitch smirked because he knew he'd won the round. While Bucky indulged in a fantasy of putting Loki over his knee and snapping him in half like a twig, Loki continued to ponder. Jane's voice tinkled through the crack in the door. She was making an effort to project, and she sounded even better for it.

"I wish she had more confidence," Bucky thought aloud. "She's the best singer in the choir."

"I agree," Loki said, making Bucky jump. Why hadn't he left yet? "That is indeed what you and I must talk about."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Barnes, can you really not see what's happening here? Jane was terrified today, even though we both know she could get that solo easily. The problem is that she doesn't know it, and she's convinced herself that she can't do it. Something must be done about this, and it seems we're the only ones capable of helping."

"So what are you saying?" Bucky asked, but he already knew the answer.

He would've loved to make Loki get on his knees and beg. He was pretty sure Loki was thinking the same thing about him. If it was anyone else in that auditorium, they wouldn't even be this civil.

"There is one crucial thing we must ask ourselves, Barnes," he said, so seriously that anyone who didn't know him would think he'd never told a joke in his life. "Do we love Jane more than we hate each other?"

Loki held out a hand. He waited for Bucky to process what he'd said and what he was doing, never wavering. He had all the raw determination of a man about to give his life for a noble cause, and much as it pained Bucky to admit it, there was something admirable in that. One could never say that Loki Odinson didn't follow through when he set his mind to something. If he said he wanted to help Jane, he meant it.

So Bucky took his hand and they shook, their temporary truce solidified.

Bucky led the way into the auditorium. The gap was wide enough that they could slip through without alerting Jane to their presence. She had stopped to do some scales, face pinched as she hit a sour note that turned into a cough. She cleared her throat and started again from the top, working her way up to a higher octave until she was close to tearing her vocal chords. Even Bucky had to wince at the sound.

"You're only going to hurt yourself doing that," Loki said loudly.

Loud enough to yank Jane out of the zone with enough force to knock her back a step.

"Wha- I thought I asked for some privacy!"

"You did, and we were gone for-" Loki checked his watch, "two minutes and thirty one seconds. That is technically abiding by your wishes."

"Well, do you think you can abide by them a little longer?"

"That depends. Do you realize that no matter how long you sing to an empty room, eventually you will have to do it before an audience?"

Jane bit her lip. She had her music up and Bucky was amazed that she could hold it for so long in those skinny arms without getting tired.

"He's right, Jane," Bucky said. "I know it's scary, but you have to get used to people watching you if you're going to do a solo. We've all done it. It's easy once you get the hang of it."

Jane stared at him, unblinking, like he'd just spontaneously grown a third arm.

"Bucky… did you just agree with _Loki_?"

"Believe me, I'm as surprised as you are."

Loki made a face, and Bucky ignored it. Frankly, if he didn't want to be called out, he should try not being a swarmy faced dickbag sometime.

"Have you considered staring at the wall, Jane?" Loki asked.

"The wall?" Jane furrowed her brow. "Are you making fun of me?"

"No, I'm serious. Find a spot on the wall and stare at it. Don't take your eyes off of it for anything."

Any other time, Bucky would think the confused look on Jane's face was the most adorable thing he'd ever seen. It was unusual for her, being one of the top school geniuses who could solve advanced equations like they were one of those 'peg in the hole' children's toys. He knew where this was going, though. It was one of the oldest tricks in the book. His own mother had given him that advice in grade school when he played the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz.

Now that he thought about it, that wasn't the only thing she said.

"If you feel like you can't breathe, inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth." Bucky gave a quick demonstration. "It's like a calming technique. It really works."

"I don't know about this."

"Come now, Jane, would we lie to you?" Loki grabbed Bucky by the shoulder, pulling him close enough to wrap an arm around him. They wore identical smiles that from a distance looked nothing but friendly.

"You can do it, Jane," Bucky said, pumping his fist. "Come on, belt it."

He refrained from whooping or anything else he might've done at one of Steve's sporting events or while watching a boxing match at home. Somehow, he got the feeling that would do more harm than good in this case. The tense aura around Jane was only just beginning to defuse as she came to accept that they wouldn't be leaving. She pulled herself together and took a more professional stance. She stared all the way out at the darkened spotlight high overhead, her stomach expanding as she took in air through her nose.

 _'Never saw the sun shining so bright… never saw things going so right… noticing the days hurrying by, when you're in love, oh how they fly…'_

She fell silent, awaiting their verdict. Bucky had enjoyed listening to her like he always did, but that didn't blind him to a couple of problems, like how weak she had sounded near the end and a few spots where she dragged out the notes longer than necessary. Pointing them out would be easy, and he thought it best to do so as gently as possible-

"I'm sorry, Jane, but I believe you've been momentarily possessed by an eighty year old woman with lung cancer," Loki shouted. "That is the only way I can explain that tepid rasp you call singing."

"What are you doing?" Bucky hissed, shoving him.

But Loki was unstoppable.

"Did you hear that, Jane? Barnes whispered in my ear, and even that was clearer than what I just heard from you."

Loki gestured at Jane, who clutched her folder so tightly that her knuckles were white. There was anger in her eyes that Loki seemed to revel in, and for once, Bucky didn't feel like knocking his lights out for it. He could see it written all over her face, more than simple frustration, but a powerful and fiery determination. If this was Loki's plan all along, then he'd gotten her hook, line and sinker.

"Oh, so you think I can't do better?" she snapped.

"I don't know, Jane," Bucky said, winking at Loki. "It'd be completely okay to bow out now. I promise no one will think any less of you."

She growled, and for a five foot nothing, one hundred and ten pound girl who had been opting out of gym since eighth grade, it was pretty fierce.

The next time she opened her mouth was like magic.

 _"Never saw the sun shining so bright, never saw things going so right, noticing the days, hurrying by, when you're in love, oh how they fly!"_

"Now that's what I want to hear!" Loki cried, clapping his hands. "Real conviction."

"Yeah, take it home, Janie!"

And Jane was on a roll, swaying her hips to the music in her head, singing with all the passion in her body well beyond the solo part, all the way to the end of the song.

 _"Blue days, all of them gone. Nothing but blue skies from now on!"_

She finished with a flourish, striking a pose with her arms up and her hair long and thrown behind her back. God, she was beautiful, especially now, a grin on her face, all inhibitions gone. Anyone who said she wouldn't steal the show at the concert was either deaf or mentally deficient.

"That's my girl!" Bucky shouted, unable to help himself.

"That is indeed _my_ girl," Loki said even louder. " _My_ girl is quite fantastic."

Bucky scowled at him.

" _My_ girl certainly is," he ground out, "and everyone knows it."

" _My_ girl is going to be the best soloist we've ever had."

" _My_ girl will be the best soloist any choir ever had."

 _"My_ girl-"

"Guys? Hey, guys?" Jane waved at them. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing!" They sprung apart as fast as they could.

* * *

On the night of the concert, Jane stared out at the crowd of friends, parents, and teachers without a hint of fear. So many people had attended to watch their sons and daughters perform, the culmination of four month's hard work. There weren't even enough seats to accommodate everyone. Jane's godfather had just vacated his in favor of a little old lady Jane vaguely recognized as Darcy's grandmother. Loki's brother, mother, and father sat near the front row, right across from Bucky's parents and sisters. Loki's mother directed his brother to point the video camera her way. It scanned across the bleachers to film every member of the choir. Jane could only guess when the camera reached her, but she smiled all the same as she and the rest of the girls sang out the last notes of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' to thunderous applause.

And now the time had come.

The next song began with it's upbeat tempo, and Jane's moment was upon them.

The whole chamber choir had encouraged her when Fury handed her this coveted position in one of their biggest songs to date, trusting her to perform it to perfection. Though some doubts remained, Jane powered through, fueled by the faith her friends all had in her. Two in particular looked her way as the time drew nearer, secret smiles creating a pleasant warmth in her chest.

The sing carried on until they were right at her verse. Jane sang with the others in perfect harmony.

 _'I bought me a pig my pig pleased me, I fed my pig under yonder tree. My pig says griffee-griffee, my hen says shimmy-shank shimmy-shank, my goose says bwah bwah-'_

Jane took a deep breath and-

"My duck says QUACK QUACK!"

Several audience members laughed. A few more clapped. Loki and Bucky beamed with pride. And Jane Foster was on top of the world.

* * *

The after party was at Tony's place. A couple of kids had talked about pooling their money together for dinner at the local diner, but as soon as Tony Stark heard about it, he had reacted with horror. No friends of his were going to toil away at some backwater truck stop when they could be spending the night in a mansion eating fresh sushi and filet mignon.

The DJ he flew in last minute cranked out generic EDM, and bodies crowded the dance floor. Once the alcohol started flowing, things got even crazier. Even the straight laced Pepper Potts had ripped her hair out of it's carefully styled bun and pulled a not unwilling Tony into the broom closet, from which they had yet to return. Bucky grabbed a beer from the tap and stood away from the madness. He found Loki tea-tootling next to the punch bowl, his paper cup full and untouched. Loki sniffed the pink liquid suspiciously before tossing it aside with a look of disgust.

"This is why my home should have been the venue," he said.

If Bucky didn't know that the Odinson's were filthy rich, he'd think Loki was just being a conceited snob. Hell, he was probably being one anyway, because no matter how much money his parents had, it couldn't possibly match up to the literal billions sitting in Tony Stark's trust fund.

"You're saying you would have served totally safe and not spiked punch at your place," Bucky said.

"More that I would've chosen something less obvious than whatever unholy cocktail that is meant to be."

He pushed the punch bowl away from him. That put it closer to Bucky as a consequence, and he had to move away as an unsavory odor reached his nostrils.

"Good show tonight," Bucky said, popping the top off his beer. "I still can't believe Fury didn't give Jane the Blue Skies solo. Maria wasn't nearly as good as she would've been."

"He most likely held her failed first attempt against her. You know how Fury can be about making everything perfect," Loki said, grabbing a glass of wine off a passing waiter's tray. "Jane performed her part well regardless."

"She made a pretty swell duck," said Bucky.

"Indeed. I'm happy that I took the time to help boost her morale."

Bucky's feeling of joy blinked out of existence at Loki's words. He turned an icy stare on him. It made one kid about to get some punch turn right back around and run, but Loki barely flinched.

"Oh, and I suppose you provided decent assistance," he said airily.

" _Assistance?_ I could not have heard that right," Bucky said. "Are you trying to imply that you did all the work helping Jane?"

"Only that it was my idea to join forces and me who led the charge and me who encouraged Jane to give it her all. You acted more as a cheerleader I'd say."

"Oh, _you'd_ say? Yeah, that's one hell of a convincing argument. Great job."

"I'm glad you recognize greatness. Perhaps you are smarter than you usual manner implies."

"I'm about to recognize my fist straight up your-"

"Guys!" Jane jumped out of the crowd, her concert dress snagged and torn in one place. She'd been on the dance floor all night, pulled into the fray early on by Darcy and never coming out until now.

"Jane!" They were both quite suddenly on their best behavior.

"You were excellent tonight, Jane," Loki said. "Truly you outshone all the rest of us."

"Oh come on," Jane said, blush forming fast. "All I did was quack like a duck."

"But you were awesome at it," said Bucky. "And you would've been the one singing Blue Skies if it was up to me."

"That's really sweet of you." Jane's arms were tense at her sides and she was teetering on the balls of her feet, brimming with energy. "Really, I can't thank you guys enough."

They wanted to be modest, or at least Bucky did (he doubted Loki even knew that word). He would've gladly denied that he did anything more than provide support, but he never got the chance. Jane didn't give either one of them the chance.

She leapt at them with agility that should have been impossible in a dress like that. Her arms came around them, knocking their heads together. The pain was over in an instant, and nothing compared to Jane's soft body pressing into them. She had her head nestled between their necks, but she was turned towards Bucky so that he alone felt her breath on his skin. Bucky sucked in a breath, desperately willing his body not to betray the thoughts running through his head.

"You guys are the best," Jane said. She pressed a sloppy kiss to each of their cheeks before letting go.

Bucky couldn't look away as Jane was called back by her friends. She gave them one last thank you and a beautiful smile, and then she was gone. Bucky caught in his peripheral Loki's face, drained of what little color he had and shining with beads of sweat. His shoulders were locked into position, his knees buckling. It was nice to know that Mr. Stuffy Untouchable was just as affected by Jane's gratitude as he was.

They stared at each other, completely immobile, still tingling from the feel of Jane's fingers and lips.

"She hugged me longer than she hugged you," Loki said.

Bucky snorted. "Are you kidding me? She hugged us the exact same amount of time, but if you want to compete, I bet she hugged me tighter."

"You can tell yourself whatever helps you sleep at night, Barnes, but that doesn't make it real."

"You're just pissed because she kissed me first."

"On the contrary. Were you not aware that it is customary to save the best for last?"

"That doesn't even make sense, you prick."

"It makes perfect sense actually."

"Yeah fine, Odinson. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

* * *

 **A/N: You know, part of me wanted to end this with Jane discovering she has a talent for rapping. Haha, get it?**

 ***pelted by 9001 tomatoes***

 **Anyway, the part Jane sings in 'I Bought Me A Cat' is the part I sang in my final concert in 12th grade.**

 **That's right, my big moment was quacking like a duck. I'm really very proud of my quacking in fact. :D**

 **Sadly, I did not have Tom Hiddleston or Sebastian Stan (or any of their characters) around to help me through stage fright. I had to deal with it myself. It's so very sad...**

 **All the songs mentioned in fic were songs I sang in choir, though Blue Skies didn't actually have a solo part. I just thought it should have.**

 **Here's a link to I Bought Me A Cat:** **watch?v=FEj3AtQzRo8**

 **The male 'duck' voice in this recording is my former choir teacher.**

 **Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all next time.**


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